The first time I ever saw Richard Widmark act in a movie, it was The Long Ships. WFMY aired it as a Saturday afternoon movie when I was eight years old. I happened to start watching right at the scene where Widmark's character Rolfe, the dashing Viking, is about to ride the "Mare of Steel" and that crazy Moorish king Aly Mansuh (played by Sidney Poitier) gives him a "demonstration" first. I can't say that I remembered Widmark himself much from that scene: the sight of a long curved razor blade that the condemned was forced to slide down belly-first made a much bigger impression on my young mind.Since then I've watched Widmark in Kiss of Death (his breakout film), Judgment at Nuremberg, and many others. At Butt-Numb-A-Thon 9 this past December one of the early movies on the program was Pickup on South Street starring Richard Widmark as "Skip" McCoy. It was a huge hit with the crowd. I must admit: I had come to be a fan of Widmark but that was one movie that had stayed under my radar until then. It was one of the films I discovered there that made the trip to the festival very worthwhile.
And now comes word that Richard Widmark has passed away at 93.
He leaves behind a wife, a daughter, and dozens of films that will doubtless continue to thrill many generations to come.
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